The present invention relates to poker games, and, more particularly, to a method for organizing and conducting a poker tournament so as to enhance spectator involvement in and enjoyment of the tournament.
The card game known today as poker originated in France and later resulted in a Persian card game considered to be the progenitor of modern poker. The Persian game known as "as nas" came into America by way of New Orleans about 200 years ago. Features were added or modified via borrowing from other French and English games resulting in the game in the form in which it is played today. The more popular of the modern poker games utilize seven cards rather than five cards as was popular in the last century, and one contemporary version utilizes thirteen cards.
Some of the more popular versions of poker played in card game casinos are seven card stud, hold-em and Omaha hi-low split. In these and other versions of card games played at casinos, the players typically play against each other with the casino taking a percentage of the pot. However, some card games have been developed in which the players play against the house rather than each other. Such card games have been developed in an effort to provide games which appeal more to the players who, it is believed, prefer to play against the house rather than against other players thereby attracting more players to the casinos. An example of such a card game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025 to Sklansky et al in which three or more poker players play against the house and in which incomplete poker hands are dealt face up and in which each player then selects one of the plurality of hands. Each player who bets on the winning hand wins his or her bet.
Other methods for playing card games have been designed for the purpose of increasing player participation in various types of card games and thereby increasing the revenues afforded to the casinos. An example of such a method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,023 to Wood which discloses a wagering system which affords the player added entertainment by providing the players an opportunity to make choices and select strategy during the course of the game.
Many other types of card games have been designed especially for use in casinos and attempt to increase player interest in and enjoyment of casino card games and thereby attract more players into the casinos and increase the time during which they play games therein in order to increase revenues for the casinos. Some of the ways casinos use to accomplish this is to generally implement the most popular games and to accelerate the rate of play for a particular game. One of the methods specifically designed for accelerating the rate of play of poker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,973 to Jones. Although many of these poker game methods and apparatuses have succeeded in increasing player participation and casino revenues, they have had little if any success in attracting mass media attention and sponsorship to the poker games.
As the legalization of gambling has become more widespread and as the public has become more drawn to gambling casinos and in particular card game casinos, the Gaming Commissions of many states have also approved the holding of poker tournaments. Casinos typically hold poker tournaments in an effort to attract more card players. The casinos often put their own money into the tournament money pool in order to make the pool very large thereby making the tournaments more enticing for the players. However, the poker tournaments typically require the players to pay the entry fees of the tournaments with their own money. The prize winners typically number three to eight with the higher percentage of the tournament pool being awarded to those who finish highest in the tournament.
Although large tournament pools are effective in luring players, the large number of players at the game tables makes it difficult for the spectator to view and follow the game playing of each player. This makes it more difficult for the spectator to follow the game playing tactics and strategies of every participant at a particular table and therefore makes it more difficult for the spectator to follow the different strategies and game playing skills used in the particular game and thus identify with and root for any particular player. In addition, the large number of players at each table makes it more difficult for television cameras to provide viewing of all the players at a table while also providing viewing of the actions of each individual player. If the television camera switches from one player to another in order to show the game playing actions, methods and perhaps strategy of each participant, it must be done quickly in a fast moving game resulting in inadequate coverage of each player and may thereby appear to be confusing for the observer. In addition, adequate coverage of the actions of each player is made more difficult because oftentimes many of the players at a table will simultaneously place their bets or simultaneously take other action. Due to the typically relatively small screen of a television and the flat image it provides, this makes it difficult for a television to provide a view of such a scene with sufficient detail to enable the viewer to discern the individual actions of each participating player. Thus, viewing such a tournament on a television is apt to be confusing and appear to be a mishmash of player activity that overwhelms the senses. In addition, the large number of players playing a single game at each table slows down each hand. Thus, the relatively slow moving poker games makes viewing of the games sometimes rather boring. In addition, in such poker games, most players do not participate in each hand because they fold early upon seeing that the hand they have been dealt does not look promising. A spectator following the playing actions of particular players is apt to be discouraged from continuing to take an interest in such players when seeing these players fold because of the abrupt cessation of their playing actions and the implication that they are becoming unlucky and apt to start a losing streak. Consequently, the large number of players at each of the game tables is not conducive to attracting a great deal of spectator interest and attention. This prevents the tournaments from enjoying more widespread viewership. In addition, this prevents the tournaments from attracting the attention of sponsors who might otherwise desire to capitalize on the publicity accorded such tournaments by the large amount of money involved and the widespread spectator interest which could be engendered. As a result, such tournaments cannot enjoy the added publicity and widespread viewership that sponsors could provide through, for example, cable television coverage and more widespread advertising of the tournaments. Such sponsorship would be very effective in attracting the interest of prospective players and thereby bring new players into the casinos. Thus, the lack of such sponsorship limits the expansion of the business of poker tournaments and limits the growth of the player and spectator base. In addition, many casinos resist holding such tournaments because they believe that they simply lure card players away from other clubs rather than attracting new card players. Thus, it is commonly believed that such tournaments simply transfer business between casinos instead of bringing new business into the industry as a whole.
What is therefore needed is an improved method for organizing and conducting poker tournaments which facilitates spectator involvement in and vicarious enjoyment of the games. What is also needed is an improved method for organizing and conducting poker tournaments which allows more effective mass media coverage of each individual game thereof in order to allow the spectators to observe the playing actions and methods of each player while devoting adequate time for coverage of each player's actions and behavior to enable the spectator to integrate these observations regarding each individual player into the playing of the game in its entirety and more effectively follow the progress of each individual game thereby promoting spectator involvement in and vicarious enjoyment of the tournament games.